The World's Executives Are Getting Increasingly Optimistic About 2013

It's been a tough year in the business world. Growth worldwide has been sluggish, and Europe, though out of crisis mode for the moment, will struggle for years to come.

This chart from McKinsey from its periodic survey of top executives is a great account of the ups and downs of the economy. At the beginning of the year, hopes were high, only to plummet during a summer of weak U.S. growth and European woes. Now, execs are slowly, but surely getting more optimistic: